Page 265 - The Ashley Book of Knots
P. 265
THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS
1398. To space pins evenly around a barrel: Make a triangular
diagram similar to the one here shown and with a number of dots
equal to the number of pins one half inch apart along the base. Take
a straight-edged strip of paper coinciding in length with the circum-
ference of the barrel on which the knot is to be tied. Place it on the
diagram, parallel to the right edge, and move it until the ends of
the paper strip touch the proper lines, when all lines will evenly
intersect the edge of the strip. The two ends of the strip meet when
wrapped around the cylinder and so count as one point only. Mark
the required points on the strip and then transfer them to the barrel.
It does not matter if knots, while being tied, are slightly distorted
on the barrel when not all of the pins are employed. After a knot is
removed to its permanent base it is easily worked into its intended
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I shape.
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1399. In t ing a large knot that is to be doubled, always middle
the cord be ore starting and tie the knot with one end only. Em-
ploy the second end in doubling the knot. This saves dragging an un-
necessary length of material at each tuck.
Instead of tucking a long end, it will be found much more con-
venient to tuck a bight of the working end (from quite near the
knot), and then to draw the end through after it. This keeps the
cord from twisting and kinking, and so destroying the regularity
1399 of the lay.
1400. It will add much to the comfort of TURK's-HEAD tying if a
buttonless slipover garment is worn and an armless bow-back chair
or a stool is sat upon. Have no other piece of furniture near by on
which to snag your cord.
1401. The knots of the last few pages were tied on a board, but
for general TURK's-HEAD tying a cylindrical object of the sort
illustrated alongside is recommended, although a plain wooden
cylinder of the right size is quite satisfactory. It is often difficult
to remove a knot from the barrel without pulling out the pins. While
this is usually practicable, it is sometimes inconvenient, especially
when several knots are to be tied. A wooden carpenter's gauge is
the base on which the apparatus is built. A long cylinder to screw to
the gauge head is all that is required. The thumbscrew allows of
adjustment, the barrel may be turned end for end, and when the
thumbscrew is loosened the knot can be removed.
The number of crossing points in any straight "over-one-and-
under-one" TURK's-HEAD equals the number of the bights, multi-
plied by one less than the number of the leads. Each crossing makes
one visible "part" on the finished knot. The number of compart-
ments on the surface of a TURK's-HEAD, when tied around a cylinder,
-
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l'tOO equals the number of crossings. But if flattened out on a plane, one
of the two rims closes at the center of the knot, and so adds another
, • Of- •
~ . • compartment. And if the knot is placed around a sphere, the outer
\ , ,..c... .. • •
-- , • rim also closes and adds a second compartment.
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